Coming Soon: Minton's and The Cecil in Harlem

Richard Parsons, the former Time Warner CEO, has announced that he and his wife will open two restaurants in West Harlem this fall. Showing his affection for jazz, Parsons is taking the original Minton’s Playhouse, where greats Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie once jammed, and restoring it into a contemporary jazz supper club named Minton's, set for a September opening. The Southern, low-country cuisine from Alexander Smalls will be a serious draw, but music might just be the main attraction.

The next-door sister restaurant, The Cecil, will also be utilizing the culinary talents of chef Smalls, but this time, he’ll be creating an African-Asian-American brasserie, set to open mid-October. We’ve gotta hand it to Parsons, restaurants are way more exciting than cable.